Automated target system and method

ABSTRACT

A target enclosure is provided. The target enclosure includes a target arm rotatable about a first axis between a first position and a second position. The target arm includes a target plate configured to be exposed to projectile fire of a shooter when in the first position, and a counterbalance lever arm coupled to the target plate. The target enclosure also includes a pneumatic system. The pneumatic system includes an air compressor providing compressed air to the pneumatic system. The pneumatic system also includes a dual-action pneumatic cylinder having a piston rod, the piston rod being coupled to the counterbalance lever arm. The pneumatic system further includes at least one valve configured to provide the compressed air to the cylinder causing the piston rod to actuate between an extended state and a retracted state, thereby causing the target arm to rotate between the first position and the second position.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/099,354, filed Jan. 2, 2015, and to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/194,536, filed Jul. 20, 2015,both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to target shootingand, more specifically, to target shooting systems and methods fortraining, tracking, and improving shooting accuracy.

BACKGROUND

Target shooting is both a sport enjoyed recreationally by civilians aswell as a skill discipline practiced professionally by, for example, lawenforcement personnel and members of the armed services. Shooterstraditionally practice with firearms such as pistols, rifles, andshotguns, or air-powered guns such as pellet or BB guns. Target practicesessions may be conducted at a special facility, such as a shootingrange, that is designed to reduce some risks associated with suchweapons. The shooting range, for example, may provide one or more “gunranges” that present an area in which the shooter or the range may setup a target with which the shooter can practice.

Some known shooting systems include steel plates that may be positionedvertically and presented to the shooter as a target. During shootingpractice, the shooter may fire one or more shots at the steel targetplate. Upon being struck, the momentum of the projectile may besufficient to knock the plate down, as well as produce an audible noisebased on the impact. As such, the shooter is able to perceive when hehits the target with a particular shot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and cannot be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIGS. 1-5 illustrate example embodiments of the methods and systemsdescribed herein, in which like characters represent like partsthroughout the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example target enclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the example target enclosure shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the example target enclosure shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the target enclosure as seen from a left sideperspective.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example shooting system that includes a targetset including three of the target enclosures shown in FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 6A is a rear right-side perspective view illustrating targetenclosure with a target arm in an upright position.

FIG. 6B is a rear right-side perspective view illustrating targetenclosure as shown in FIG. 6A, but excluding some components of targetenclosure, such as right side plate, rear plate, and rear cover, forpurposes of illustration (e.g., to better reveal the interior of targetenclosure).

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of target enclosure in a down position,with the air cylinder extended, or pushed out (e.g., after a “pushaction”).

FIG. 8 is a rear left-side perspective view illustrating targetenclosure, but excluding some components of target enclosure, such asleft side plate, rear cover, and rear plate, for purposes ofillustration (e.g., to better reveal the interior of target enclosure).

FIG. 9 illustrates a computerized method, in accordance with an exampleembodiment, for providing a training routine for a shooter.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used. Like numbersin the Figures indicate like components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the inventivesubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide automatic target systemsand methods for tracking and improving shooting accuracy. In someexample embodiments, an automatic target system is provided. The targetsystem includes a target enclosure having a target arm that swings froma horizontal or “down” position to a vertical or “upright” position. Thetarget arm is controlled or acted upon by a gear assembly or an air orhydraulic cylinder that can perform both a “push action” to cause thetarget arm to fall into the down position, as well as a “pull action” tocause the target arm to rise to the upright position. The gear assemblyor air or hydraulic cylinder is controlled by an “onboard”microcontroller (e.g., within the target enclosure).

In some embodiments, the microcontroller is communicatively coupled to anearby “remote” control unit which generates raise and lower actioncommands or events (e.g., when to raise and lower the target arm). Thetarget system is configured to present the shooter with a shooting“simulation” that includes a series of operations automatically raisingand lowering of the target in a random pattern, or in some otherpre-determined pattern that may or may not be known to the shooter. Inother words, the target system may raise the target at one time, andthen lower the target at a later time (e.g., if the shooter has notstruck the target within 3 seconds of the raise event).

In some embodiments, the target system also includes a piezoelectricsensor, or “hit sensor”, that detects when a shot has struck the target.This hit detection is transmitted to the remote control unit, and may beused to compute accuracy of the shooter. Further, in some embodiments, ashooting system is provided that includes a plurality of targetenclosures, such as three target enclosures sitting side-by-side. Forexample, the target system may be configured to present a shooting eventto the shooter over the course of 30 seconds. The shooting system may beconfigured to raise each of the three targets at various times duringthe simulation. The control unit generates the actions for each of thethree targets a number of times during the shooting event, and the hitcounter determines the number of times each particular target wasstruck. The target system may then present the shooter with an accuracymeasurement related to, for example, how many targets were missed. Thetarget system may be configured with various parameters such as, forexample, the duration of the shooting event, the number of targets eachenclosure is to present during the shooting event, and the pattern ortiming of presentation of targets. As such, the target system may beused to collect accuracy information of the shooter, both at the time ofa given shooting event, as well as over time. This information may beused to track accuracy performance and skill evaluation.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralelements or steps unless such exclusion is explicitly recited.Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present invention arenot intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additionalembodiments that also incorporate the recited features.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example target enclosure 100. In theexample embodiment, target enclosure 100 includes a front guard plate102 disposed at a front end 120 of enclosure 100. Target enclosure 100also includes a left side plate 104 and a right side plate 108 (notvisible in FIG. 1). Enclosure 100 further includes a splatter guard 106covering a portion of enclosure 100 along a top side 130, and a rest bar112 at a rear end 140 of enclosure 100.

Enclosure 100 also includes a target plate 110. In the example shown inFIG. 1, target plate 110 is illustrated in an upright position in whicha front surface 111 target plate 110 is exposed to a target shooter 150wielding a projectile weapon 152 such as, for example, firearms such aspistols or rifles, air-powered weapons such as pellet, BB, or paintballguns, and bow weapons such as compound bows or crossbows. In the exampleembodiment, projectile weapon 152 is a .38 caliber revolver firing 148grain lead “wadcutter” bullets at a load generating approximately a 700foot per second (fps) muzzle velocity (e.g., a common “match load” usedin competitive shooting). Further, in the example embodiment, targetplate 110 is made of a hardened steel. In some embodiments, target plate110 is made of a hardened steel having a Brinell value of approximately500 or more. In other embodiments, target plate 110 may be made of amaterial having a Brinell value less than 500, such as certain irons oraluminums, which may be suitable for projectiles having lower kineticenergy and/or penetration potential such as, for example, pellets, BBs,and paintballs.

In the example embodiment, front guard plate 102 is made of hardenedsteel. In some embodiments, front guard plate 102 is made of hardenedsteel having a Brinell value of approximately 500 or more. Front guardplate 102 may improve protection of internal components of enclosure 100from, for example, shots fired by shooter 150. In some embodiments,enclosure 100 does not include a front guard plate 102, or includes afront guard plate 102 that is less resistant to penetration. Forexample, enclosure 100 may be deployed behind a barrier (not shown) suchas a natural or artificial berm or wall such that only portions oftarget plate 110 are exposed to shooter 150 during operation, and thebarrier facilitates protection of internal components of enclosure 100.Further, in the example embodiment, front guard plate 102 is removablycoupled to enclosure 100 such as to facilitate, for example, ease ofaccess to internal components and/or cleaning of enclosure 100.

During operation, target enclosure 100 is in proximity to shooter 150,for example at a shooting range. In the example embodiment, targetenclosure 100 presents target plate 110 to shooter 150 in an “upright”or “exposed” position (e.g., approximately vertical, and/orapproximately perpendicular to a line of fire of shooter 150), andshooter 150 attempts to hit target plate 110 by firing one or moreprojectiles (e.g., bullets) at target plate 110. Upon a projectilehitting target plate 110, target plate 110 is configured to fallbackward, propelled by a transfer of kinetic energy from the projectileto target plate 110. When in the down position, target plate 110 restson rest bar 112.

In the example embodiment, target plate 110 is configured to swing intoa “down” or “unexposed” position (e.g., approximately horizontal, and/orapproximately parallel to line of fire 150) upon a successful “hit”(i.e., a projectile striking target plate 110). In some embodiments, asprojectiles strike front surface 111 of target plate 110, theprojectiles may fragment or shatter, causing portions of the projectilesto shower the nearby area. Splatter guard 106 facilitates prohibiting atleast some fragments of projectiles from entering an interior of targetenclosure.

In the example embodiment, upon a successful hit, target plate 110 isconfigured to remain in the down position for a period of time.Additional details regarding additional target plate 110 movement andactions performed by target enclosure 100 are described in greaterdetail below.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view 200 of example target enclosure 100 shownin FIG. 1. In the example embodiment, perspective view 200 excludes leftside plate 104 (shown in FIG. 1) to better reveal an interior 204 oftarget enclosure 100. Target enclosure 100 includes three cornersupports 202 that, together with rest bar 112, connect right side plate108 to left side plate 104, thereby forming at least some of thestructure of target enclosure 100. Target enclosure 100 includes threemain components and/or assemblies that interact to provide at least someof the features and benefits described herein: a target arm 210, a gearassembly 240, and a detent 220.

In the example embodiment, target arm 210 includes target plate 110coupled to a counterbalance 212. As described above in reference to FIG.1, target arm 110 includes a front surface 111, a portion of which isexposed to projectile fire during operation (e.g., when in the uprightposition shown in FIG. 2). Counterbalance 212 includes an L-shaped body214 and a shaped push wedge 216. Shaped push wedge 216 defines a pushsurface 218. In the example embodiment, shaped push wedge 216 defines aconvex push surface 218. In some embodiments, push surface 218 may be alinear in shape, which may, for example, simplify manufacturing of thecomponent. In other embodiments, push surface 218 may be concave inshape, which may, for example, allow application of force to the pushsurface for a longer time, as it may keep contact as the target rotates.

In the example embodiment, target arm 210 is fixedly coupled to a targetarm bar 230 that extends between right side plate 108 and left sideplate 104. Target arm bar 230 enables target arm 210 to rotate about atarget arm bar axis (not shown in FIG. 2). More specifically, and in theexample embodiment, target arm bar 230 enables target arm 210 to rotatethrough approximately 90 degrees of rotation. The rotational range oftarget arm 210 is bordered by a stopping edge 226 of splatter plate 106(e.g., when in the upright position shown in FIG. 2) and rest bar 112(e.g., when in a down position). In other words, when target arm 210rotates to the upright position, rotation of target arm 210 is stoppedby stopping edge 226 (e.g., when front surface 111 makes contact withstopping edge 226). Similarly, when target arm 210 rotates to the downposition, rotation of target arm 210 is stopped by rest bar 112 (e.g.,when a rear surface (not shown in FIG. 2) of target arm 210 makescontact with rest bar 112.

As discussed herein, the upright position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 isdescribed as approximately a 90 degree angle, and the down position isdescribed as approximately a 180 degree angle (e.g., target arm 210rotates between 90 degrees (upright) and 180 degrees (down)). Further,as discussed herein, rotational direction is referred to using“clockwise” and “counter-clockwise” in relation to a leftside view(e.g., the approximate left-side view shown in FIG. 2). In other words,target arm 210 rotates clockwise to get to the upright position andcounterclockwise to get to the down position.

In the example embodiment, target enclosure 100 includes detent 220.Detent 220, in the example embodiment, is a ball detent that includes aball component 224 configured to roll in place, and is not compliant. Insome embodiments, detent 220 may be pressed outward by an internalspring. Detent 220 is coupled to right side plate 108 such that a center(not separately shown) of detent 220 is set slightly forward (e.g.,toward front side 120) of a right side edge 222 of target arm 210 whentarget arm 210 is in the upright position. Further, detent 220 andtarget arm 210 are configured relative to each other such that ballcomponent 224 is configured to make contact with and hamper rotation oftarget arm 210.

In the example embodiment, target arm bar 230 includes a shaft (notshown in FIG. 2) welded to target arm 210. The shaft is free to spininside bearings or bushings installed in side plates, thus allowingtarget arm 210 to rotate between upright and down positions. Target armbar 230 also includes a spring on an opposite side from detent 220.Target arm 210 is configured to slide axially along an axis of targetarm bar 230 (e.g., toward and/or away from right side plate 108). In theexample embodiment, the “slide range”, or distance that target arm 210may slide (e.g., left to right) is less than 1 inch. During operation,the spring acts as a force pushing and/or holding target arm 210 towardright side plate 108. As target arm 210 (e.g., right side edge 222 ofcounterbalance 212) encounters detent 220 (e.g., when in transitionbetween upright and down positions), ball component 224 tends to pushtarget arm 210 away from right side plate 108. The spring and axialslide of target arm 210 allows detent 220 to push target arm 210 to theleft as counterbalance 212 passes detent. Once past, the spring againtends to push and/or hold target arm 210 toward right side plate 108. Assuch, the spring acts as a resistant force countering detent 220, andthe slide range of target arm 210 provides the flexibility to bothassist target arm 210 to rotate past detent 220 when enough rotationalforce is applied (e.g., when being pushed by actuator arm 270, but alsoallows detent 220 to resist rotation of target arm 210 when not enoughrotational force is applied (e.g., during elastic rebound of target arm210 after being raised to upright position.

Further, in the example embodiment, detent 220 inhibits rotation oftarget arm 210 from a range between approximately 90 and 95 degrees.This “wiggle range” is provided by the positioning of detent 220 suchthat target arm 210 may rotate from 90 degrees (e.g., upright) throughthe wiggle range before coming into contact with detent 220. In someembodiments, the wiggle range may be less than 10 degrees, or less than5 degrees, or any range between 0 and 5 degrees. During operation, whentarget arm 210 transitions between down position and upright position(e.g., rotating clockwise), rotational speed and/or momentum of targetarm 210 carry right side edge 222 of target arm 210 past or throughdetent 220 (e.g., allowing target arm 210 to become fully upright, andbe stopped by stopping surface 226), but detent 220 facilitatesresisting a rotational “bounce-back” or reciprocal counter-rotationbased on, for example, elasticity of the collision between target arm210 and splatter shield 106 (e.g., occurring after target arm 210strikes stopping surface 226). As such, target arm 210 is maintained inan approximately upright position (e.g., at approximately 90 degrees,and/or within the wiggle range), assisted by detent 220 in at least somesituations.

In the example embodiment, gear assembly 240 includes a servo unit(“servomechanism” or just “servo”) 250 enclosed within a servo mountbracket 252. Servo 250 provides angular position control for a servogear 254 that is fixedly coupled to a servo arm 256. In the exampleembodiment, servo 250 is an HS-7954SH (commercially available from HitecRCD USA, Inc., of Poway California), modified for 360 degrees rotation,and the servo mount is a bottom mount gearbox with a 3:1 gear ratio, anda large gear OD of 2.25 inches. Servo arm 256 includes a pin 258disposed within a slide slot 272 of an actuator arm 270. Actuator arm270 is coupled to a pivot bar 274 that enables actuator arm 270 to pivotthrough an angular range of motion, and in the same plane of motion oftarget arm 210 (e.g., pivot bar 274 is approximately parallel to targetarm bar 230, in a plane including axes of both bars 274, 230). Morespecifically, actuator arm 270 is positioned on a plane of motion withshaped push wedge 216 of counterbalance 212 such that, during rotation,actuator arm 270 may contact shaped push wedge 216 on push surface 218(e.g., when target arm 210 is in the upright position as shown in FIG.2). In other words, the distance between actuator arm 270 and right sideplate 108 is approximately the same as the distance between shaped pushwedge 216 and right side plate 108.

In the example embodiment, servo 250 controls the rotational motion andangular position of actuator arm 270. As servo arm 256 rotates, pin 258causes actuator arm 270 to rotate as well. Further, pin 258 slidesradially inward and outward, relative to pivot bar 274, within slideslot 272. For description purposes, a similar frame of reference is usedto describe the angular position of actuator arm 270 herein as is usedto describe the angular position of target arm 210. In other words, ifactuator bar 270 is rotated to a forward horizontal position, thatangular position would be described as zero degrees, and if actuator baris rotated to a vertical position similar to the upright position oftarget plate 210 as shown in FIG. 2, the angle of actuator bar 270 wouldbe described as 90 degrees. As shown in FIG. 2, the angle of actuatorbar 270 is at approximately 75 degrees.

Further, in the example embodiment, servo 250 is mounted to right sideplate 108 such that the rotational axis of servo gear 254 is positioneda distance forward of, and another distance above, servo gear 254 (andservo arm 256). Servo arm 256 is at approximately the same angle asactuator arm 270 when actuator arm 270 is at approximately 75 degrees(the “aligned position”). As such, pin 258 is at its radiallyoutward-most point relative to pivot bar 274 when servo arm 256 andactuator arm 270 are “aligned” (e.g., approximately zero degreesdifference between servo arm 256 and actuator arm 270). In other words,as servo bar 256 rotates, either counterclockwise or clockwise from thealigned position, pin 258 becomes closer to pivot bar 274. As such, gearassembly 240 provides varying degrees of, e.g., angular speed andangular acceleration, of a radially outward end 278 of actuator arm 270.

In the example embodiment, target enclosure 100 also includes a pullchain (not shown in FIG. 2). The pull chain is coupled (e.g., on oneend) to outward end 278 of actuator arm 270 (the “servo end” of the pullchain), such as connected via a clip or spring through chain hole 276.The pull chain is also coupled (e.g., on an opposite end) to target arm210. In the example embodiment, the pull chain is coupled to connectionpoint 219 on a side surface of push wedge 216.

During operation, gear assembly 240 exerts two types of motive actionson target arm 210: a “push” action and a “pull” action, both of whichimpute force to target arm 210 through actuator arm 270. The push actionis available and occurs primarily when target arm 210 is in the uprightposition (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2). The push action occurs whenactuator arm 270 is rotated clockwise (e.g., from the aligned positionshown in FIG. 2) such that contact is made between outward end 278 ofactuator arm 270 and push surface 218 of push wedge 216, “pushing” oncounterbalance 212, thereby causing target arm 210 to rotatecounterclockwise (e.g., toward, and ultimately into, the down position).The pull action is available and occurs primarily when target arm 210 isin the down position (not shown in FIG. 2). The pull action occurs whenactuator arm 270 is rotated counterclockwise (e.g., from the alignedposition) such that actuator arm 270 brings the pull chain taught and“pulls” on counterbalance 212 (e.g., at connection point 219), therebycausing target arm 210 to rotate clockwise (e.g., toward, and ultimatelyinto, the upright position).

In the example embodiment, target enclosure 100 includes a power source(not shown in FIG. 2), a controller (not shown in FIG. 2), and acommunications interface (not shown in FIG. 2). The power source powersone or more of servo 250, the controller, and the communicationsinterface. In some embodiments, the power supply is an electrochemicalbattery. In other embodiments, the power supply is an alternatingcurrent (AC) or a direct current (DC) power supply (e.g., connected to aconventional power distribution network or a power generator). Thecontroller, in the example embodiment, is an Arduino® Pro Minimicrocontroller communicatively coupled to servo 250 and thecommunications interface (commercially available from Arduino LLC,Massachusetts, USA). The communications interface, in the exampleembodiment, is an XBee® Pro 900HP radio module (Digi International Inc.,Delaware, USA) with an RP-SMA antenna. It should be understood that theexample power source, controller, and communications interface aremerely examples, and that any power source, controller, andcommunications interface that enables the systems and methods describedherein may be used.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view 300 of example target enclosure 100, alsoshown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the example embodiment, perspective view 300excludes left side plate 104 (shown in FIG. 1) to better reveal aninterior 204 of target enclosure 100. Perspective view 300 againillustrates target arm 210 in an upright position, and prepared for a“push” action as described above in reference to FIG. 2.

During a push action, in the example embodiment, and as described above,servo 250 rotates actuator arm 270 clockwise (e.g., from the “alignedposition”), causing outward end 278 of actuator arm 270 to make contactwith push surface 218. More specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates a pushrange 318 along push surface 218, bordered by an upper contact position319 a and a lower contact position 319 b. Upper contact position 319 arepresents where actuator arm 270, while rotating clockwise, first makescontact with target arm 210 during a push action. When actuator arm 270first makes contact with push surface 218 during a push operation (e.g.,at position 319 a), actuator arm 270 defines an angle referred to hereinas the “actuator arm initial push angle”, and servo arm 256 (shown inFIG. 2) defines an angle referred to herein as the “servo arm initialpush angle.” As servo 250 continues to rotate actuator arm 270clockwise, outward end 278 of actuator arm 270 slides along push range318 of push surface 218 until contact between actuator arm 270 andtarget arm 210 is lost. When actuator arm 270 last makes contact withpush surface 218 during a push action, actuator arm 270 defines an anglereferred to herein as the “actuator arm final push angle,” and servo arm256 defines an angle referred to herein as the “servo arm final pushangle.”

In the example embodiment, servo 250 drives actuator arm 270 slightlypast the actuator arm final push angle (e.g., to zero degrees) beforereversing rotational direction of actuator arm 270 and returningactuator arm to, for example, a neutral position and/or the alignedposition. During the push operation, servo 250 drives actuator arm 270through push range 318 such as to cause target arm 210 to rotatecounterclockwise. More specifically, in some embodiments, the force ofrotation of actuator arm 270 and/or the actuator arm final push angle issufficient to at least rotate target arm 210 past detent 220. Further,in some embodiments, the rotational velocity and/or momentum imparted totarget arm 210 by actuator arm 270 is sufficient to cause enoughrotation of target arm 210 to allow a center of gravity of target plate110 (e.g., associated with the mass of target arm 210 above target armbar 230) to overcome a center of gravity of counterbalance 212 (e.g.,associated with the mass of target arm 210 below target arm bar 230).This push action causes target arm bar 210 to transition from theupright position, past the detent, and into the down position. In otherwords, in the example embodiment, target arm 210 is “top heavy”, orbalanced such that target arm 210 tends to fall toward the down positionand naturally remain at rest there due, at least in part, to gravity.

FIG. 4 is a side view 400 of target enclosure 100 as seen from a leftside perspective. Side view 400 excludes left side plate 104 (shown inFIG. 1) to better reveal an interior 204 of target enclosure 100.

In the example embodiment, side view 400 illustrates an upright position410 of target arm 210 in solid line, as well as a down position 420 oftarget arm 210 in dashed line. As described above, target arm 210transitions between these two positions during operation. For example,target arm 210 may transition from upright position 410 to down position420 after being struck by a projectile fired by shooter 150 (shown inFIG. 1), or may be automatically pushed counterclockwise toward downposition 420 by actuator arm 270 (a “push” or “lower” event, asdescribed above). While in down position 420, target arm 210 maytransition from down position 420 into upright position 410, forexample, by actuator arm 270 pulling target arm 210 clockwise (a “pull”or “raise” event, as described above).

Target arm 210, upright position 410, and down position 420 arereferenced herein relative to a target arm axis “A”. In the exampleembodiment, target arm 210 is at an upright angle α₁ of approximately 90degrees, and target arm 210 is at a down angle α₂ of approximately 180degrees. As such, target arm 210 pivots between approximately 90 and 180degrees.

Side view 400 also illustrates the range of actuator arm 270 duringoperation in the example embodiment. Side view 400 illustrates a“neutral position” 450 of actuator arm 270 in solid line, and a “minimumactuator position” 460 and a “maximum actuator position” 470 of actuatorarm 270 in dashed line. Neutral position 450 represents the position ofactuator arm 270 when not engaged in a push operation or a pulloperation. In other words, and in the example embodiment, after a pushor pull operation, actuator arm 270 may be returned to neutral position450. As such, neutral position 450 also represents the starting positionfor at least some push and pull operations.

Actuator arm 270, neutral position 450, minimum actuator position 460,and maximum actuator position 470 are referenced herein relative to anactuator arm axis “B”. In the example embodiment, actuator arm 270 is atan angle (not shown) of approximately 0 degrees when at minimum actuatorposition 460. When at neutral position 450, actuator arm 270 is atneutral angle (e.g., 45 degrees in the example embodiment). A push angleβ₁ represents the rotational change when actuator arm 270 rotatesthrough a push action. In other words, during a push action, servo 250(shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) rotates actuator arm 270 from neutral position450, through β₁ degrees of clockwise rotation, to minimum actuatorposition 460 and back to neutral position 450 thereby, for example,pushing target arm 210 past detent 220 and causing target arm 210 tofall to down position 420. When at maximum actuator position 470,actuator arm is at a maximum angle (β₁+β₂), where β₂ represents therotational change when actuator arm 270 rotates through a pull action.In other words, during a pull action, servo 240 rotates actuator arm 270from neutral position 450, through β₂ degrees of counterclockwiserotation, to maximum actuator position 470 and clockwise back to neutralposition 450 thereby, for example, pulling target arm 210 from downposition 420 past detent 220 and into upright position 410. In theexample embodiment, the neutral position 450 is approximately 45 degreesfrom axis B, the push angle β₁ is approximately 45 degrees, and the pullangle β₂ is approximately 50 degrees. In another embodiment, the neutralposition 450 is approximately 45 degrees from axis B, the push angle β₁is approximately 10 degrees, and the pull angle β₂ is approximately 50degrees.

As described above, actuator arm 270 is coupled to target arm 210 via achain (not shown) connecting chain hole 276 and connection point 219. Inthe example embodiment, the pull chain is at least as long as a distance(not separately identified in FIG. 4) between chain hole 276 whenactuator arm 270 is in neutral position 450 and connection point 219when target arm 210 is in down position 410. Further, the pull chain isno longer than a distance (not separately identified in FIG. 4) betweenchain hole 276 when actuator arm 270 is in maximum actuator position 470and connection point 219 when target arm 210 is in down position.

In the example embodiment, when target arm 210 is in upright position410 and actuator arm 270 is in neutral position 450, the pull chaindangles loose between chain hole 276 and connection point 219. Whentarget arm 210 is in down position 420 and actuator arm 270 is inneutral position 450, the pull chain also dangles loose between chainhole 276 and connection point 219. During a pull action, for exampleinitiated when target arm 210 is in down position 420 and actuator arm270 is in neutral position 450, actuator arm 270 is rotated through afirst, counterclockwise phase, and then through a second, clockwisephase, by servo 250 (e.g., through β₂).

Continuing the pull action example, actuator arm 270 continues to rotatecounterclockwise until actuator arm 270 reaches maximum actuatorposition 470 (e.g., between approximately 45 degrees and approximately105 degrees). During this phase, referred to herein as the “pullstroke,” actuator arm 270 is exerting a force on target arm 210 and,more particularly, counterbalance 212 at connection point 219. Thisforce causes a moment of force on target arm 210 (e.g., rotating abouttarget arm bar 230 (shown in FIG. 2). The pull force generated on targetarm 210 and, more particularly, the momentum generated in target arm 210by the end of the pull stroke causes target arm 210 to swing throughdetent 220 and into upright position 210. The pull force and momentumgenerated is not so much as to enable the elastic bounce-back of targetarm 210 to overcome detent 220 after the bounce-back. In other words,the power of the pull stroke is configured, relative to one or more ofthe mass of target arm 210 and configuration of detent 220 relative totarget arm, within a range that enables target arm 210 to reach, andstay in, upright position 210.

In some situations, actuator arm 270 may be subjected to forces otherthan from servo 250 (a “counter-force”). For example, target arm 210 isconfigured to be struck by projectiles on front surface 211 (shown inFIGS. 1 and 2). When a projectile strikes target plate 210, theprojectile exerts a moment of force on target plate 210 tending to causea counterclockwise rotation (e.g., causing target plate 210 to fall fromupright position 410 to down position 420). Because counterbalance 212is a component of target arm 210, this also causes counterbalance 212 torotate as well. As described above, counterbalance 212 is coupled toactuator arm 270 by the pull chain. If actuator arm 270 is in neutralposition 450 as shown in FIG. 4 and the pull chain is a length asdescribed above, target arm 210 falling after the projectile strike willstill leave at least some slack in the pull chain. Such a situation willnot cause a counter-force on actuator arm 270.

However, in some situations, target arm 210 may be struck when there isno slack in the pull chain, thereby causing actuator arm 270 to besubjected to a counter-force. For example, and as described above,during a pull action, actuator arm 270 is raising target arm 210 fromdown position 420 to up position 410. More particularly, during the pullstroke of the pull action, all slack has been removed from the pullchain, and actuator arm 270 is exerting the force on target arm 210 asdescribed above. While actuator arm 270 is exerting this force, targetarm 210 is partly exposed to fire from shooter 150. If a projectilestrikes target arm 210 during the pull stroke (e.g., after actuator arm270 reaches the initial pull angle but prior to actuator arm 270reaching maximum actuator position 470), the projectile will exert acounter-force (e.g., counterclockwise) on target arm 210 tending toresist the clockwise force from servo 250 and actuator arm 270.

This counterforce may tend to cause damage to gear assembly 240 and,more particularly, servo 250. As such, a shorter pull stroke may helpavoid at least some such projectile strikes. However, shortening thepull stroke too much may not enable the pull action to generate enoughmomentum in target arm 210 to cause it to achieve upright position 410,and/or to overcome the initial pass by detent 220. At least some of thefactors that may affect the length of time and angle of the pull strokemay be the power imparted by servo 250, the length of the pull chain,the position of connection point 219 on counterbalance 212, the mass oftarget arm 210 and/or components of target arm 210, the length ofactuator arm 270, the length of servo arm 256, and the placement ofservo bracket 252 and servo 250. In the example embodiment, targetenclosures 100 is configured such as to exert enough force to pop thetarget arm 210 from down position 420 into upright position 410 and pastdetent 220, with a shortened pull stroke.

Further, in some embodiments, target enclosure 100 also includes a “hitsensor” that detects when a projectile has struck target arm 210. In theexample embodiment, the hit sensor is a piezoelectric sensor. Further,in some embodiments, the hit sensor is mounted to right side wall 108 orleft side wall 104 (shown in FIG. 2) approximately adjacent to targetarm 210. This positioning may help reduce any resonance in the targethousing that could produce false hit readings. In some embodiments, thehit sensor is mounted to a back surface 311 (shown in FIG. 3) of targetplate 110. In other embodiments, three hit sensors may be mounted toback surface 311 such that hit location may be determined bytriangulation between the three sensors. With hit sensor(s) mounted toback surface 311, in some embodiments, the hit sensors may be mountedwithout a housing to reduce mass and/or make the sensor compliant, asbullet impact may tend to transfer through the plate and possibly detachthe hit sensor on from back surface 311. In the example embodiment, thehit sensor is communicatively coupled to a controller included withintarget enclosure 100.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example shooting system 500 that includes oneor more target enclosures 510 in a target set 502. In some embodiments,target enclosures 510 are similar to target enclosure 100 (shown inFIGS. 1-4) or target enclosure 600 (shown in FIGS. 6A-8). Shootingsystem 500, in the example embodiment, includes a set of three targetenclosures 510 communicatively coupled to a control unit 520. In someembodiments, control unit 520 includes a display 522. Further, in someembodiments, control unit 520 is positioned in proximity to shooter 150or another user (not shown) associated with shooter 150, such as ashooting instructor or administrator. In the example embodiment, controlunit 520 and target enclosures 510 each include a wirelesscommunications interface 512 such as, for example, an XBee® radio module(e.g., 900 megahertz). In other embodiments, control unit 520 may becommunicatively coupled to target enclosures 510 via a wired network 524using wired communications interfaces (e.g., Ethernet, or serial).

In some embodiments, control unit 520 may also be communicativelycoupled to a mobile computing device 530 (e.g., smartphone, handheldtablet computing device, and laptop computing device) via a wired orwireless network such as, for example, using near-field communications(NFC) technology (e.g., Bluetooth®). In other embodiments, mobilecomputing device 530 may be coupled to target enclosures 510, controlunit 520, and/or a system server 540 via a wired or wireless network,for example via a Wi-Fi device 550 or a cellphone network 552. Shootingsystem 500, in the example embodiment, includes a database 542 forproviding at least some of the benefits described herein.

In the example embodiment, control unit 520 transmits commands to, andreceives data from, target set 502 and, more particularly, individualtarget enclosures 510 a, 510 b, and 510 c (collectively, “targetenclosures 510”). For example, in some embodiments, control unit 520transmits pull action commands and push action commands to raise andlower target arms 210 (shown in FIGS. 2-4) of target enclosures 510. Insome embodiments, each target enclosure 510 (e.g., target enclosure 510a) includes an enclosure identifier distinct from at least the othernearby (e.g., different than the enclosure identifiers of targetenclosures 510 b and 510 c). In some embodiments, each individual targetenclosure 510 is configured with an enclosure identifier. In otherembodiments, target enclosures 510 are assigned enclosure identifiers bycontrol unit 520 (e.g., when first powered on). In still otherembodiments, network identifiers (e.g., IP addresses) of targetenclosures 510 may be used as enclosure identifiers. As such, controlunit 520 is able distinguish between individual target enclosures fortransmitting individual commands to particular enclosures.

In some embodiments, control unit 520 transmits a series of pull andpush actions to each target enclosure 510 of target set 502. This seriesof coordinated actions is referred to herein as a “target actionssequence.” The target actions sequence may also be referred to herein asa “simulation” or a “training program” in which, for example, shooter150 begins the target actions sequence, shoots at target actions duringthe sequence, and the simulation concludes when the sequence iscomplete.

A target actions sequence may, for example, comprise a time-synchronizedseries of events for each of the three target enclosures 510 a, 510 b,and 510 c. A target actions sequence may, for example, include threeseparate “individual target sequences”, which may include an orderedseries of pull and push actions with intervening delays before, during,and/or after each. For example, a target actions sequence may include:

TABLE 1 Example Target Actions Sequence Operation # 510a 510b 510c (1)Pull @ 2.0 s Pull @ 0.5 s Pull @ 6.0 s (2) Push @ 3.2 s Push @ 2.5 sPush @ 7.3 s (3) Pull @ 4.5 s Pull @ 3.5 s Pull @ 8.2 s (4) Push @ 6.0 sPush @ 5.5 s Push @ 9.0 s (5) Pull @ 8.5 s Pull @ 7.9 s Pull @ 10.1 s(6) Push @ 10.5 s Push @ 9.9 s Push @ 11.0 sTable 1 includes three individual target sequences (e.g., the threecolumns for target enclosures 510 a, 510 b, and 510 c). Each individualtarget sequence includes six separate motive actions or “operations”identified by in the “Operation #” column. Each operation is defined aseither a push action or a pull action, as described above. Further, eachoperation includes a time to perform the action on (e.g., transmit anoperation to) the associated target enclosure. It should be understoodthat the number of target enclosures 510, the number of operations, andthe particular timings of operations shown in Table 1 are exemplaryonly, and that each may vary within the scope of this disclosure.

In the example shown in Table 1, the time of the operation is referencedas “@” (“at”) an elapsed time, t, in seconds (s), from a start time oft=0.0 seconds. As such, each individual target action sequence defineswhen the given operations are to be transmitted and performed by theassociated target enclosure 510. For example, at time t=2.0 seconds,control unit 520 transmits a pull action to target enclosure 510 a,thereby causing servo 250 (shown in FIGS. 2-3) to “pull” target arm 210into upright position 410 (shown in FIG. 4), and thereby exposing targetplate 110 (shown in FIGS. 1-2) to potential fire from shooter 150. Then,at time t=3.2 seconds, control unit 520 transmits a push action totarget enclosure 510 a, thereby causing servo 250 to “push” target arm210 into down position 420 (shown in FIG. 4), and “hiding” target plate110 from potential fire from shooter 150.

Accordingly, during operation, control unit 520 sends signals to threetarget enclosures 510 a, 510 b, and 510 c during the example simulation.For example, targets may begin the simulation shown in Table 1 in thedown position. At time t=0.5 seconds, control unit 520 sends a pullaction to target enclosure 510 b (e.g., raising that target). At timet=2.0 seconds, control unit 520 sends a pull action to target enclosure510 a. At time t=2.5 seconds, control unit 520 sends a push action totarget enclosure 510 b. This target enclosure 510 b may have been struckand knocked down by shooter 150. In the example embodiment, control unit520 and/or the associated target enclosure may skip a push action if,for example, a hit has been registered since the last pull action (e.g.,if shooter 150 has just scored a hit). At various times throughout theexample simulation, targets are raised and lowered according to thesimulation commands. At any given time, none or one or more of thetargets may be raised and subsequently lowered if not hit, depending onthe series of simulation operations.

In some embodiments, control unit 520 may identify the target actionsequence (e.g., the data from Table 1) for the simulation from adatabase 542 (e.g., as a pre-generated or pre-created target actionsequence). Database 542 may include a plurality of simulations, andshooter 150 may select a pre-defined simulation from database 542. Forexample, and in some embodiments, some simulations may include a degreeof difficulty, such as “hard”, “medium”, and “easy”, and shooter 150 mayselect a simulation based at least in part on the degree of difficulty.

In other embodiments, control unit 520 may generate the target actionsequence at “run time” (e.g., just prior to execution). For example,control unit 520 may generate three individual target sequences byalternating pull and push actions separated by a random or pseudo-randomamount of time between each (referred to herein as “delay times” betweentwo operations on either a single target enclosure or on targetenclosures within a target set). In some embodiments, to providerandomization for up and down times, a random number generator functionof Arduino software is used. The random seed is sourced by reading ananalog input of the Arduino which has electrical noise. This providesthat the times are random and do not repeat. These random times aregenerated every time the Arduino code loops, which in some embodimentsis several thousand times per second (e.g., depending on processor clockspeed and/or code complexity). In some embodiments, the simulation maybe programmed to leave a target up until it is hit, and/or mayimmediately come back up after being hit. In some embodiments, thesimulation may be configured with a total number of presentations, suchas, for example, when the shooter has a 30 round magazine, and may wantto only have 30 chances to hit targets.

In some embodiments, control unit 520 generates operations “on the fly,”or after commencing the simulation. Control unit 520 may identify or beprovided with various parameters that may influence generation of thetarget action sequence for an upcoming simulation. For example, in someembodiments, parameters may include: a total simulation time, or a totaltime that the target action sequence should run (e.g., run thesimulation for 30 seconds); a number of presentations for one or more ofthe target enclosures during the simulation (e.g., enclosure 510 bshould present itself, or be pulled into upright position 410, a totalof 5 times during the simulation); a presentation time or presentationtime range (e.g., enclosure 510 b should remain in upright position 410for 1.5 seconds during each presentation, or a random amount of timebetween 0.8 seconds and 2.5 seconds during each presentation); a downtime or down time range (e.g., enclosure 510 b should remain in downposition 420 for 2.2 seconds between each presentation, or a randomamount of time between 1.2 seconds and 3.0 seconds); a maximum orminimum number of targets simultaneously presented (e.g., no more than 2targets in target set 502 may ever be presented at the same time); arate at which targets are presented to shooter 150; a maximum number ofhits (e.g., perform the simulation until 15 hits are registered); and aminimum number of hits (e.g., perform the simulation for at least 30seconds, then stop only after 5 hits are registered).

As described above, in the example embodiment, each target enclosure 510also includes a controller 514 (e.g., a microcontroller such as anArduino® microcontroller) communicatively coupled to a hit sensor (notshown). Controller 514 is configured to identify a “hit” (e.g., aprojectile strike to target arm 210) when the hit sensor provides anamplitude of impulse above a pre-determined threshold. In the exampleembodiment, the threshold for a hit is determined by using theanalog-to-digital converter input of controller 514. The Arduinocontroller 514 has a maximum voltage input of 5 Volts, so a resistor iswired in parallel with the piezo hit sensor to reduce the maximumvoltage generated. The hit sensor is capable of generating around 30Volts. The controller 514 constantly reads this input and converts thereadings to a digital value between 0 and 1023. If this value is above apre-defined threshold (e.g., 600), then controller 514 registers a hit.Other thresholds may be used, based on variables such as sensorplacement, construction materials, densities, and weights of variousparts, and the types of projectiles that may be used with targetenclosure 100.

In the example embodiment, after identifying a hit, controller 514transmits a hit detection signal to control unit 520 (e.g., viarespective communications interfaces 512). In some embodiments, hits aretracked by a hit counter. This hit counter may be reset (e.g., set tozero) at, for example, the beginning of a simulation. In someembodiments, hits may influence the simulation while the simulation isrunning. For example, in some embodiments, control unit 520 may alter arate or speed at which targets are presented to shooter 150 if a hitrate or hit percentage is above or below a pre-determined threshold, oroutside or inside of a predetermined range. Or for another example, ahit signal may advance the target action sequence if the simulation isprogrammed to maintain a minimum of one target always presented.

In the example embodiment, presentation data (e.g., how many totaltargets were presented during the simulation) and hit data (e.g., howmany hits were registered) are collected during a simulation (referredto herein, collectively, as “results data”, the results of a givensimulation). In some embodiments, the results data is presented toshooter 150 during and/or after the simulation. For example, in someembodiments, control unit 520 may track a total number of presentationsof targets during the simulation, and a total number of hits registeredduring the simulation. Control unit 520 may generate a “knock-downpercentage” based at least in part on the number of targets presented tothe number of hits registered. Control unit 520 may then present toshooter 150, for example via display 522 or mobile computing device 530,one or more of: total hits (e.g., the total number of hits registeredduring the simulation), total presentations (e.g., the number of timesthat targets were presented to shooter 150 during the simulation),knock-down percentage, hits per target, timer time remaining, hittiming, elapsed time, hits per second, time target has been up, and/ortime target was up before being hit. Further, in some embodiments,control unit 520 may identify a number of rounds expended by shooter 150during the simulation. For example, shooter 150 may only be allowed afixed number of shots, such as when using a 6-shot revolver, or shooter150 or the target actions sequence may provide a limit or total numberof shots fired during the simulation. As such, control unit 520 may alsopresent a hits percentage (e.g., the number of shots fired thatregistered a hit) based at least in part on the number of shots firedand the number of hits registered.

Further, in some embodiments, control unit 520 may track an amount ofelapsed time that the target is presented to shooter 150 before beinghit, or if multiple targets were up simultaneously, how long it tookbetween each hit and the total time it took to knock them down. As such,control unit 520 may present this additional data to shooter 150 fortheir tracking and analysis.

In some embodiments, simulation data, such as a target actions sequence,and/or results data, such as hit data from a given simulation, may bestored and tracked over time. For example, shooter 150 may perform aparticular simulation X on Aug. 1, 2014. Shooting system 500 may storethe simulation data (e.g., target actions sequence of Table 1) and/orthe results data of shooter 150 during simulation Xin database 542. At alater time, such as a year later, shooter 150 may perform the samesimulation X, generating new results data, and shooting system 500 maypresent both the historical results data and the current results data toshooter 150, as well as comparative data indicating how shooter 150improved or regressed over time. As such, shooting system 500 mayprovide measurable skills data for various shooters, and relative totheir own performance on the same simulation. Further, other shootersmay use the same simulation Xto generate results data of their own. Assuch, shooting system 500 may provide measurable skills data to comparethe performance of shooters to other shooters under the same simulation.

FIGS. 6A-8 illustrate an example embodiment of a target enclosure 600that may be used in the shooting system 500 shown in FIG. 5 (e.g., astarget enclosure(s) 510). Target enclosure 600 is capable of maintainingan upright position after projectile strikes based on control of atarget arm 610 by an actuator (e.g., a pneumatic or hydraulic actuator).

FIG. 6A is a rear right-side perspective view illustrating targetenclosure 600 with a target arm 610 in an upright position. Target arm610 may have some components similar to target arm 210 (shown in FIGS.2-4). Target enclosure 600 includes right side wall 108 and left sidewall 104, with splatter guard 106 covering the front top of theenclosure 600, and with front guard plate 102. Further, target enclosure600 also includes a rear cover 606 and a rear plate 604. A carryinghandle 602 is coupled to rear plate 604, and may be used to carry targetenclosure 600 when not in use. Target enclosure 600 also includes restbar 112, on which target arm 610 rests when in the down position. Targetenclosure 600 also includes one or more hit sensors (not shown), whichmay be similar to the hit sensors described with respect to targetenclosure 100.

FIG. 6B is a rear right-side perspective view illustrating targetenclosure 600 as shown in FIG. 6A, but excluding some components oftarget enclosure 600, such as right side plate 104, rear plate 604, andrear cover 606, for purposes of illustration (e.g., to better reveal theinterior of target enclosure 600). In some embodiments, target enclosure600 may include some components similar to the target enclosure 100shown in FIGS. 1-4, though not necessarily labeled in FIGS. 6A-8. Targetarm 610 includes target plate 110 coupled to a counterbalance lever arm612. Target enclosure 600 represents another embodiment for raising andlowering target arm 610 that, among other things, enables target arm 610to maintain an upright position after projectile strikes. In the exampleembodiment, target enclosure 600 includes a pneumatic system 640 thatraises and lowers target arm 610 between the upright and down positions.In other embodiments, target enclosure 600 may include a hydraulicsystem for raising and lowering target arm 610, which may include somecomponents similar to pneumatic system 640.

In the example embodiment, pneumatic system 640 includes an air cylinder650 (e.g., a double-acting pneumatic actuator). Air cylinder 650includes an internal chamber (not shown) in which a piston (not shown)is moved or actuated (e.g., via compressed air pressure) to cause apiston rod 656 to extend or retract from air cylinder 650. As adouble-acting actuator, air cylinder 650 includes two ports 658A and658B to enable extension and retraction of piston rod 656. For example,compressed air flow into “extension port” 658A tends to force extensionof piston rod 656, and compressed air flow into “retraction port” 658Btends to force retraction of piston rod 656.

Air cylinder 650 also includes a first end 652A and a second end 652B.At first end 652A, air cylinder 650 is coupled to a threaded rod end654A, which in turn is rotatably coupled to a support rod 630. Threadedrod end 654A enables air cylinder 650 to rotate through a small rangeduring operation (e.g., during raising and lowering of target arm 610).At second end 652B, piston rod 656 is coupled to threaded rod end 654B,which is rotatably coupled to counterbalance lever arm 612 of target arm610. Threaded rod end 654B enables piston rod 656 to rotate through asmall range during operation (e.g., relative to target arm 610). In FIG.6B, air cylinder 650 is shown in a retracted state (e.g., with pistonarm 656 retracted within the internal chamber), and as such, target arm610 is in an upright position.

Pneumatic system 640 also includes an air compressor 670 and adirectional solenoid valve 660 configured to generate and distributecompressed air to air cylinder 650 (e.g., into and out of ports 658A and658B). Air compressor 670 generates compressed air used to actuate aircylinder 650. In the example embodiment, air compressor 670 is an aircompressor such as those commercially available from VIAIR® (aCalifornia corporation) (e.g., a “C” model, such as model “100 c”, or an“IG” model). Air compressor 670 is powered by a power supply 680 (e.g.,an electrochemical battery) and is coupled in flow communication withvalve 660 (e.g., via pneumatic hose (not shown) or similar conduit orcoupling).

Valve 660 distributes compressed air from air compressor 670 to aircylinder 650. In the example embodiment, valve 660 is a dual-solenoidvalve such as those commercially available from MCMASTER-CARR® (anIllinois corporation) (e.g., 5-port double solenoid air directionalcontrol valve, 12 volt DC, style F, ⅛ NPT port size). Valve 660 iscoupled in flow communication with air compressor 670, and optionallyother components, as a source for the compressed air. For distributionof the compressed air, valve 660 is coupled in flow communication withboth extension port 658A and retraction port 658B (collectively, ports658) on air cylinder 650 (e.g., via pneumatic tube (not shown), orfixedly attached to one of the ports 658).

During operation, valve 660 controls air flow from air compressor 670and a reservoir 810 (shown in FIG. 8) to air cylinder 650, causingpiston rod 656 to extend (e.g., compressed air flow into extension port658A during a “push action”), thereby lowering target arm 610, orcausing piston rod 656 to retract (e.g., compressed air flow intoretraction port 658B during a “pull action”), thereby raising target arm610. Valve 660 (e.g., the solenoids of valve 660) is powered by thepower supply, and is communicatively coupled to the microcontroller,enabling the microcontroller and, by proxy, mobile computing device 530or control unit 520, to control the position of target arm 610 bycontrolling compressed air flow to either extension port 658A orretraction port 658B using the solenoids of valve 660.

In the example embodiment, as mentioned above, pneumatic system 640 isconfigured such that piston rod 656 is retracted while target arm 610 isin the upright position (e.g., while exposing target arm 610 toprojectile fire from shooter 150). During an impact event (e.g., when aprojectile strikes target arm 610), target arm 610 may experience areciprocal force from decelerating the projectile, thereby causing arotational force on target arm 610 (e.g., around target arm bar 230).This rotational force transfers to air cylinder 650, which is under airpressure in the pneumatic system 640. As such, air cylinder 650 acts asan air cushion, absorbing some of the shock and rotational force byallowing air within air cylinder 650 to compress and expand slightly,acting like a “pneumatic spring,” thereby allowing target arm 610 toflex back and forth slightly with the impact. This cushion effectreduces some of the shock that might otherwise reverberate through othercomponents of target enclosure 600. Further, because the air cylinder650 and piston rod 656 are in a substantially retracted position (e.g.,as shown in FIG. 6B), those components are in a more secure positon towithstand impact shock (e.g., protecting against bending of piston rod656).

In the example embodiment, pneumatic system 640 also includes a pressureswitch (not shown) that regulate certain actions of air compressor 670.For example, the pressure switch may be configured to maintain systempressure within pneumatic system 640 (e.g., reservoir 810) within apressure range (e.g., between a lower threshold and an upper threshold).The pressure switch may cause air compressor 670 to activate when thepressure in reservoir 810 is below the lower threshold, or the pressureswitch may cause air compressor 670 to deactivate when the pressure inreservoir 810 is at or above the upper threshold. The pressure rangesettings may depend on various other factors and components of targetenclosure 600 such as, for example, the weight, shape, and various otheraspects of target arm 610, which might cause target arm 610 to requiremore or less pressure to effectively and timely raise and lower duringoperation (e.g., heavier target arms 610 may require a greater lowerthreshold than lighter target arms 610). In the example embodiment, thepressure range is maintained (e.g., by the pressure switch) between 85pounds per square inch (PSI) (e.g., the lower threshold) and 105 PSI(e.g., the upper threshold).

In some embodiments, the pressure switch builds pressure to apre-determined level (e.g., the upper threshold), and then shuts off.When valve 660 actuates and moves air cylinder 650 (e.g., piston rod656), a pressure drop is caused, and the pressure switch causes aircompressor 670 to engage to re-establish pressure. In some embodiments,the microcontroller controls the compressor via a relay. In other words,rather than using a pressure switch, the microcontroller interfaces witha pressure transducer (not shown), and the microcontroller controls boththe raising and lowering events, as well as the pressure build for valve660. As such, the microcontroller may “anticipate” an upcoming raisingor lowering event and engage air compressor 670 based on the upcomingevent (e.g., at a pre-determined amount of time before the upcomingevent, rather than as a reaction to a pressure drop), thereby buildingpressure more efficiently.

In other embodiments, pneumatic system 640 may include pressure sensorsconfigured to detect the pressure within the pneumatic system 640 (e.g.,within reservoir 810). The pressure sensors may interface with themicrocontroller and, by proxy, control unit 520 or mobile computingdevice 530 (e.g., for pressure readings). Further, pneumatic system 640may include relays (not shown), communicatively coupled to themicrocontroller, that are configured to activate or deactivate aircompressor 670. As such, the microcontroller and, by proxy, control unit520 or mobile computing device 530, may control the pressure withinreservoir 810 by controlling activation of air compressor 670. In someembodiments, the microcontroller, the mobile computing device 530, orthe control unit 520 may operate to maintain the pressure within thereservoir 810 within a pre-determined range. In some embodiments, theshooter 150 may configure one or more of the lower threshold and theupper threshold.

In some embodiments, pneumatic system 640 includes an exhaust flowcontrol orifice (or “bleed-off orifice”) 662. The exhaust flow controlorifice 662 is a flow-control orifice such as those commerciallyavailable from MCMASTER-CARR® (e.g., NPT threaded brass flow-controlorifice, hex head, ⅛ NPT male, 0.020″ or 0.025″ diameter). The exhaustflow control orifice 662 is screwed into an exhaust port (not separatelyidentified on FIG. 6B) of valve 660, and controls the rate at which airexhausts from air cylinder 650 (e.g., altering the rate at which targetarm 610 may fall). Use of flow control orifice 662 may be used tocontrol the speed of the target during raising or lowering events (e.g.,pull actions and push actions, respectively). For example, flow controlorifice 662 may counteract the pneumatic power of pneumatic system 640during a push action, thereby reducing the speed of descent of targetarm 610, and thus the impact shock placed upon rest bar 112 as targetarm 610 reaches the down position. In the example shown in FIG. 6B, flowcontrol orifice 662 is illustrated on a right-side port of the threeports shown on valve 660, but the flow control orifice 662 may beinstalled on a left-side port of valve 660.

Target enclosure 600 also includes two flanged bearing mounts 614opposed each other and supporting target arm bar 230. Flanged bearingmounts 614 include needle bearings configured to enable target arm 610to rotate about target arm bar 230 in approximately 90 degrees of motion(e.g., between the upright and down positions). Target enclosure alsoincludes two torsion springs 616 that provide force assist when raisingtarget arm 610. One end 616 of each torsion spring 616 acts on the leverarm 612, while the other end (not visible in FIG. 6B) acts on theunderside of splatter guard 106. Torsion springs 616 are shown in FIG.6B in a “relaxed” or uncompressed state (e.g., relatively). As such,relatively little force is applied by torsion springs 616 to maintaintarget arm 610 in the upright position. When target arm 610 is loweredto the down position, torsion springs 616 compress and apply greaterforce (e.g., toward raising target arm 610). This raising force isovercome by pneumatic system 640 (e.g., by the extension of piston rod656), which maintains target arm 610 in the down position (e.g., viapneumatic pressure). When target arm 610 is being raised from the downto the upright position, torsion springs 616 act to assist pneumaticsystem 640, thereby providing a smoother and more efficient uprightmovement of target arm 610.

In the example embodiment, target enclosure 600 also includes anelectronics enclosure (“control unit”) 634 mounted to the rear plate 604of the enclosure 600. The electronics enclosure 634 houses some of theelectronics components of the enclosure 600, such as, for example, thewireless communications interface 512, the microcontroller (e.g., forperforming the push and pull actions, when directed, which may besimilar to controller 514), relays for controlling valve 660, and anon/off switch. In the example embodiment, the microcontroller is acontroller such as those commercially available from Particle(www.particle.io; Spark Labs Inc. doing business as Particle) (e.g.,Particle Photon microcontroller) or from Adafruit Industries, LLC (a NewYork Limited Liability Company) (e.g., Adafruit Pro Trinket).

In some embodiments, target enclosure 600 may include one or moreflyback diodes (not shown). For example, a flyback diode may be includedfor the air compressor 670 and/or the solenoids on valve 660. Flybackdiodes are connected across the terminals or leads of the associateddevice. Air compressor 670 may periodically generate a voltage spike(e.g., when shutting off after reaching a pressure threshold). Thevoltage spike may damage other components of target enclosure 600 suchas, for example, the microcontroller. The flyback diodes allow the spiketo flow back through the inductor that caused the spike until it isdissipated. In other embodiments, a transformer-based DC-to-DC powerconverter or power supply may be used (e.g., in lieu of or in additionto flyback diodes). As such, the DC-to-DC power converter may isolatethe compressor from other electronics components.

In some embodiments, pneumatic system 640 may use two single-actingpneumatic actuators (e.g., in lieu of double-acting air cylinder 650,one for raising target arm 610 and the other for lowering target arm610). In some embodiments, pneumatic system 640 may use twosingle-solenoid valves (e.g., in lieu of dual-solenoid valve 660, onefor raising the target arm 610, one for lowering target arm 610, eitherwith a single double-acting pneumatic actuator such as air cylinder 650,or with two single-acting pneumatic actuators). In some embodiments,valve 660 may be an air-directional control valve (e.g., in lieu ofsolenoids).

In some embodiments, pneumatic system 640 may be implemented as ahydraulic system (not separately shown). For example, air compressor 670may be substituted with a hydraulic compressor (not shown), air cylinder650 may be substituted with a double-acting hydraulic actuator, and thehydraulic system may use a fluid rather than air. Further, the hydraulicsystem may include a reservoir for system fluid. The hydraulic systemmay also include an accumulator to, for example, dampen shocks to thehydraulic system and other components upon proj ectile impacts.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of target enclosure 600 in a down position,with the air cylinder 650 extended, or pushed out (e.g., after a “pushaction”). FIG. 7 shows rear cover 606 and rear plate 604, but excludesright side plate 108 for purposes of illustration. In the down position,target arm 610 rests on rest bar 112. In some embodiments, rear cover606 is fixedly coupled to rear plate 604, thereby forming an L-shaped“service hatch” (not separately identified). Rear plate 604 is coupledto a hinge 632, which is coupled to underside plate 620. Hinge 632enables the service hatch to rotate out (e.g., when target arm 610 is inan upright position), thereby exposing components within the interior oftarget enclosure 600 for inspection or service.

FIG. 8 is a rear left-side perspective view illustrating targetenclosure 600, but excluding some components of target enclosure 600,such as left side plate 108, rear cover 606, and rear plate 604, forpurposes of illustration (e.g., to better reveal the interior of targetenclosure 600). In the example embodiment, target enclosure 600 alsoincludes a reservoir 810. The reservoir 810 is a multi-purpose device,acting as a filter (e.g., removing particulates), a drain (e.g., toremove fluid and debris from the compressed air), and a reservoir ofcompressed air. In some configurations, it may be advantageous tomaintain a relatively small reservoir 810, in which air compressor 670is engaged regularly after raise and lower events (e.g., where thestored compressed air is just enough to perform a single event). Asmaller reservoir may, for example, cause an advantageous power lossnear the end of the extension stroke of cylinder rod 656, therebypartially reducing the force at which target arm 610 strikes rest bar112.

Referring now to FIGS. 6B and 8, in the example embodiment, an exit port820 of air compressor 670 is coupled in flow communication withreservoir 810 at a reservoir entry port 822 (e.g., via pneumatic tube orconduit). A reservoir exit port (not visible in FIG. 8) of reservoir 810is coupled in flow communication with a valve entry port 664 of valve660. Valve 660 is fixedly coupled to, and coupled in flow communicationwith, air cylinder 650 at extension port 658A. Valve 660 is also coupledin flow communication with retraction port 658B (e.g., via pneumatictube or conduit). As such, compressed air may transit from aircompressor 670 through reservoir 810 and valve 660 to be used on eitherport 658A, 658B of air cylinder 650.

Referring now to FIG. 5, in some embodiments, training programs may beperformed on target enclosure 600 (e.g., with a pneumatic or hydraulicactuator that enables target arm 610 to remain upright after one or morestrikes). In some embodiments, shooting system 500 provides a trainingprogram that provides for a random number of hits (“random hits”) or apre-determined number of hits before lowering a particular target 510(e.g., a random number within a pre-determined range of hits, such asbetween 1 and 7 hits). In other words, a random number between 1 and 7is selected (e.g., “5” is selected by controller 514 or by control unit520), a particular target 510 is raised, and that target 510 remainsupright until the target 510 is struck 5 times, at which time it islowered. In some embodiments, microcontroller 514 may identify the hitsand initiate the down action once the number of hits has been reached.In other embodiments, target enclosure 510 may transmit hit data back tocontrol unit 520 and control unit 520 may initiate the down action oncethe number of hits has been reached.

In some embodiments, shooting system 500 provides a training programthat provides for a random selection of which target enclosure 510 israised at a particular time (e.g., one at a time in sequence, one at atime randomly, or all at once). Further, these training programs may becombined with the number of hits to generate a hybrid training program(e.g., random target enclosure 510, one at a time, with random number ofhits between 1 and 7 before lowering).

In some embodiments, a timer is included (e.g., on target enclosure 510or on control unit 520). The shooting system 500 may provide trainingprograms that maintain a target enclosure 510 upright for a period oftime (“time-based routines”, e.g., a random amount of time in a range,or a pre-determined amount of time). The time-based routines may becombined with the target selection routines described above to formhybrid routines. In some embodiments, control unit 520 transmits a“target uptime value” to a target enclosure 510. That target enclosure510 raises the target upright, starts a timer, and maintains the targetupright for the length specified by the target uptime value. In otherwords, the target uptime value determines how long the target is goingto be upright (e.g., regardless of the number of hits). In someembodiments, the timer only runs after a first hit is registered on theparticular enclosure 510 after raising the target. This timer delay maykeep units from cycling while unattended. In other words, without thetimer delay, an unattended shooting system 500 may continue to cyclethrough a training program even though the shooter 150 may not beengaged, thereby running down the power supplies on the enclosures 510.

In some embodiments, enclosures 510 include a listening window delaywhen registering hits with the hit sensor. The listing window delay is alength of time in which a subsequent shot will not register as adistinct “hit” after an initial hit. For example, a listing window delayof 500 milliseconds will only register one hit if two consecutive hitsoccur 300 milliseconds apart. In the example embodiment, the listingwindow delay is 100 milliseconds. In other embodiments, the listingwindow delay is 250 milliseconds.

In some embodiments, a single hit sensor is mounted to the target arm610 and is calibrated to distinguish between an impact to the target arm610 and to other areas of the enclosure 600 (e.g., via a thresholdvalue). Impacts on the target arm 610 may register a greater value thanimpacts to other components, such as front plate 102. As such, theshooting system 500 may distinguish hits on target arm 610.

In some embodiments, multiple hit sensors may be provided within targetenclosure 100, 600. For example, one piezoelectric sensor may be placedon target arm 610 (“target arm sensor”) and a second sensor may beplaced on the interior surface of front plate 102 (“front platesensor”). Readings from each sensor may be compared after a single hit,and may be used to distinguish between an impact on the target arm 610and an impact on front plate 102 (e.g., based on a differential orabsolute value comparison between the two readings). For example, animpact on front plate 102 may register a greater value on the frontplate sensor than on the target arm sensor, and vice versa for a hit onthe target arm 610. As such, the shooting system 500 may distinguishbetween the two different types of impacts (e.g., counting only the hitson the target arm 610).

In some embodiments, a shot sensor may be provided in proximity toshooter 150 that counts the number of shots fired by shooter 150 duringa training routine. For example, control unit 520 may include amicrophone (not shown) that is configured to detect the percussion of around fired. As such, the shooting system 500 may compute a hitpercentage (e.g., using the total number of hits over the total numberof shots fired).

In some embodiments, the hit sensor(s) may only be active and registerhits when the target arm 610 is upright, and/or while on the way up/down(e.g., controlled by the microcontroller or control unit 520).

In some embodiments, a light (not shown) may be provided on targetenclosure 100, 600 (e.g., a white light-emitting diode (LED) light). Thelight may be mounted to splatter cover 106 and oriented to illuminatefront surface 111 of target arm 210, 610. As such, the light may enabletarget enclosure 100, 600 to be used in darkness or low visibilitysituations. Further, in some embodiments, the light may be amulti-colored light (e.g., green and red). The shooting system 500 maycontrol activation of the light, and may control which color isdisplayed. Training programs may also implement the multiple colors. Forexample, red may be a “do not shoot” situation, and green is a “shoot”situation. As such, shots impacting a “red” target may be countedseparately than shots hitting a “green” target, where some may countagainst the shooter and others may count for the shooter.

FIG. 9 illustrates a computerized method 900, in accordance with anexample embodiment, for providing a training routine for a shooter. Thecomputerized method 900 is performed by a computing device comprising atleast one processor. In the example embodiment, the computerized method900 includes selecting, by a hardware processor, a first hit countassociated with a first target enclosure at operation 910. At operation920, the method 900 includes transmitting the first hit count to thefirst target enclosure. At operation 930, the method 900 includesreceiving, by the hardware processor, indication from the first targetenclosure that a number of projectile impacts on the first targetenclosure equals or exceeds the hit count. At operation 940, the method900 includes selecting, by the hardware processor, a second hit countassociated with a second target enclosure after receiving indicationfrom the first target enclosure. At operation 950, the method 900includes transmitting the second hit count to the second targetenclosure.

In some embodiments, the method 900 further includes transmitting afirst raise event to the first target enclosure, wherein receivingindication from the first target enclosure further includes receivingprojectile strike data from the first target enclosure, the projectilestrike data including a number of projectile impacts on the first targetenclosure, comparing, by the first hardware processor, the number ofproj ectile impacts on the first target to the first hit count, anddetermining, by the first hardware processor, that the first hit counthas been reached or exceeded based on the comparing. In someembodiments, the method 900 also includes receiving, by the hardwareprocessor, first proj ectile strike data from the first targetenclosure, receiving, by the hardware processor, second projectilestrike data from the second target enclosure, and displaying the firstprojectile strike data and the second proj ectile strike data to theshooter during the training routine via a display device.

The exemplary methods and systems described herein provide an automatedshooting system and target enclosure that may be used to enhanceshooting accuracy. The target enclosure provides a gear assemblyoperated in conjunction with a target arm that can raise and lower atarget plate automatically, thereby providing an automatic target for ashooter. Further, a control unit is provided in communication with oneor more target enclosures for providing a series of control events suchthat a sequence of target actions may be executed by the one or moretarget enclosures. The target actions sequence, or simulation, may bepre-defined or generated during the simulation, and may be retained andstored for repeated use of the same simulation. Shooter statistics maybe collected, stored, and compared to the same shooter or other shootersfor accuracy metrics comparison.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture1002, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 10 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 1002 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 1100 of FIG. 11 that includes, among other things,processors 1104, memory 1114, and input/output (I/O) components 1118. Arepresentative hardware layer 1004 is illustrated and can represent, forexample, the machine 1100 of FIG. 11. The representative hardware layer1004 includes a processing unit 1006 having associated executableinstructions 1008. Executable instructions 1008 represent the executableinstructions of the software architecture 1002, including implementationof the methods, modules and so forth described herein. The hardwarelayer 1004 also includes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage1010, which also have executable instructions 1008. The hardware layer1004 may also comprise other hardware 1012.

In the example architecture of FIG. 10, the software architecture 1002may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 1002may include layers such as an operating system 1014, libraries 1016,frameworks or middleware 1018, applications 1020 and a presentationlayer 1044. Operationally, the applications 1020 and/or other componentswithin the layers may invoke application programming interface (API) APIcalls 1024 through the software stack and receive a response as inresponse to the API calls 1026. The layers illustrated arerepresentative in nature and not all software architectures have alllayers. For example, some mobile or special purpose operating systemsmay not provide the frameworks/middleware 1018, while others may providesuch a layer. Other software architectures may include additional ordifferent layers.

The operating system 1014 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 1014 may include, for example, akernel 1028, services 1030, and drivers 1032. The kernel 1028 may act asan abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 1028 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 1030 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 1032may be responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware. For instance, the drivers 1032 may include display drivers,camera drivers, Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serialcommunication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi®drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth dependingon the hardware configuration.

The libraries 1016 may provide a common infrastructure that may be usedby the applications 1020 and/or other components and/or layers. Thelibraries 1016 typically provide functionality that allows othersoftware modules to perform tasks in an easier fashion than to interfacedirectly with the underlying operating system 1014 functionality (e.g.,kernel 1028, services 1030 and/or drivers 1032). The libraries 1016 mayinclude system libraries 1034 (e.g., C standard library) that mayprovide functions such as memory allocation functions, stringmanipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition,the libraries 1016 may include API libraries API 1036 such as medialibraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation ofvarious media format such as MPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG),graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework that may be used to render2D and 3D in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g.,SQLite that may provide various relational database functions), weblibraries (e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality),and the like. The libraries 1016 may also include a wide variety ofother libraries 1038 to provide many other APIs to the applications 1020and other software components/modules.

The frameworks frameworks/middleware 1018 (also sometimes referred to asmiddleware) provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may beused by the applications 1020 and/or other software components/modules.For example, the frameworks/middleware 1018 may provide various graphicuser interface (GUI) functions, high-level resource management,high-level location services, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware1018 may provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized bythe applications 1020 and/or other software components/modules, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system or platform.

The applications 1020 include built-in applications 1040 and/orthird-party applications 1042. Examples of representative built-inapplications 1040 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 1042 may include anyan application developed using the Android™ or iOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asiOS™, Android™ Windows® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 1042 may invoke the API calls 1024 provided bythe mobile operating system such as operating system 1014 to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 1020 may use built in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 1028, services 1030 and/or drivers 1032), libraries 1016,frameworks/middleware 1018 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systemsinteractions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such aspresentation layer 1044. In these systems, the application/module“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/module thatinteract with a user.

Some software architectures use virtual machines. In the example of FIG.10, this is illustrated by a virtual machine 1048. The virtual machine1048 creates a software environment where applications/modules canexecute as if they were executing on a hardware machine. The virtualmachine 1048 is hosted by a host operating system (e.g., operatingsystem (OS) 650 in FIG. 10) and typically, although not always, has avirtual machine monitor 1046, which manages the operation of the virtualmachine as well as the interface with the host operating system (i.e.,operating system 1050). A software architecture executes within thevirtual machine 1048 such as an operating system operating system (OS)1050, libraries 1052, frameworks 1054, applications 1056 and/orpresentation layer 1058. These layers of software architecture executingwithin the virtual machine 1048 can be the same as corresponding layerspreviously described or may be different.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1100,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. In someembodiments, machine 1100 may be similar to the microcontrollers orcommunications interfaces of target controllers 100, 510, 600 (e.g.,controller 514, communications interface 512), or control unit 520, orcomputing devices 530, or server 540. Specifically, FIG. 11 shows adiagrammatic representation of the machine 1100 in the example form of acomputer system, within which instructions 1016 (e.g., software, aprogram, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code)for causing the machine 1100 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, theinstructions may be used to implement modules or components describedherein. The instructions transform the general, non-programmed machineinto a particular machine programmed to carry out the described andillustrated functions in the manner described. In alternativeembodiments, the machine 1100 operates as a standalone device or may becoupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment,the machine 1100 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or aclient machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine 1100 may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, aclient computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant(PDA), an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smarthome device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a webappliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or anymachine capable of executing the instructions 1016, sequentially orotherwise, that specify actions to be taken by machine 1100. Further,while only a single machine 1100 is illustrated, the term “machine”shall also be taken to include a collection of machines thatindividually or jointly execute the instructions 1016 to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 1100 may include processors 1010, memory memory/storage1030, and input/output (I/O) components 1050, which may be configured tocommunicate with each other such as via a bus 1102. In an exampleembodiment, the processors 1110 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU),a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC),another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, forexample, processor 1112 and processor 1114 that may execute instructions1116. The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processorthat may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referredto as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 11 shows multiple processors, the machine 1100 may include a singleprocessor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores(e.g., a multi-core process), multiple processors with a single core,multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory/storage 1130 may include a memory, such as a main memory1132, static memory 1134, or other memory storage, and a storage unit1136, both accessible to the processors 1110 such as via the bus 1102.The storage unit 1136 and memory 1132, 1134 store the instructions 1116embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The instructions 1116 may also reside, completely or partially,within the memory 1132, 1134, within the storage unit 1136, within atleast one of the processors 1110 (e.g., within the processor's cachememory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereofby the machine 1100. Accordingly, the memory 1132, 1134, the storageunit 1136, and the memory of processors 1110 are examples ofmachine-readable media.

As used herein, “machine-readable medium” means a device able to storeinstructions and data temporarily or permanently and may include, but isnot be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cachememory, other types of storage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term“machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, orassociated caches and servers) able to store instructions 1116. The term“machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium, orcombination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions(e.g., instructions 1116) for execution by a machine (e.g., machine1100), such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine 1100 (e.g., processors 1110), cause themachine 1100 to perform any one or more of the methodologies describedherein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a singlestorage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems orstorage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. Theterm “machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.

The input/output (I/O) components 1150 may include a wide variety ofcomponents to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmitinformation, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. Thespecific input/output (I/O) components 1150 that are included in aparticular machine will depend on the type of machine. For example,portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touchinput device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless servermachine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will beappreciated that the input/output (I/O) components 1150 may include manyother components that are not shown in FIG. 11. The input/output (I/O)components 1150 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the input/output (I/O)components 1018 may include output components output components 1152 andinput components 1154. The output components 1152 may include visualcomponents (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), alight emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aprojector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g.,speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor, resistancemechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. The input components1154 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, atouch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-opticalkeyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point based inputcomponents (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motionsensor, or other pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., aphysical button, a touch screen that provides location and/or force oftouches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), audioinput components (e.g., a microphone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the input/output (I/O) components 1150may include biometric components 1156, motion components 1158,environmental environment components 1160, or position components 1162among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometriccomponents 1156 may include components to detect expressions (e.g., handexpressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, oreye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate,body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person(e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facialidentification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogrambased identification), and the like. The motion components 1158 mayinclude acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer),gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g.,gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental environment components 1160may include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g.,photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or morethermometer that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensorcomponents, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acousticsensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect backgroundnoise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detectnearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detectionconcentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants inthe atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications,measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physicalenvironment. The position components 1162 may include location sensorcomponents (e.g., a Global Position System (GPS) receiver component),altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detectair pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensorcomponents (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The input/output (I/O) components 1150 may include communicationcomponents 1164 operable to couple the machine 1100 to a network 1180 ordevices 1170 via coupling 1182 and coupling 1172 respectively. Forexample, the communication components 1164 may include a networkinterface component or other suitable device to interface with thenetwork 1180. In further examples, communication components 1040 mayinclude wired communication components, wireless communicationcomponents, cellular communication components, Near Field Communication(NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy),Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components to providecommunication via other modalities. The devices 1170 may be anothermachine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., aperipheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 1164 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components processors communication components 1164 mayinclude Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader components, NFCsmart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., anoptical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as UniversalProduct Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as QuickResponse (QR) code, Aztec code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode,PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2D bar code, and other optical codes), oracoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify taggedaudio signals). In addition, a variety of information may be derived viathe communication components 1162, such as, location via InternetProtocol (IP) geo-location, location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation,location via detecting a NFC beacon signal that may indicate aparticular location, and so forth.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toany single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

This written description uses examples to disclose certain embodimentsof the present invention, including the best mode, and also to enableany person skilled in the art to practice those certain embodiments,including making and using any devices or systems and performing anyincorporated methods. The patentable scope of the present invention isdefined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur tothose skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be withinthe scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do notdiffer from the literal language of the claims, or if they includeequivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from theliteral language of the claims.

1. A target enclosure comprising: a target arm rotatable about a firstaxis between a first position and a second position, the target armincluding: a target plate configured to be exposed to projectile fire ofa shooter when in the first position; and a counterbalance lever armcoupled to the target plate; and a pneumatic system including: an aircompressor providing compressed air to the pneumatic system; adual-action pneumatic cylinder having a piston rod, the piston rod beingcoupled to the counterbalance lever arm; and at least one valveconfigured to provide the compressed air to the dual-action pneumaticcylinder causing the piston rod to actuate between an extended state anda retracted state, thereby causing the target arm to rotate about thefirst axis between the first position and the second position.
 2. Thetarget enclosure of claim 1, wherein the dual-action pneumatic cylindermaintains the target arm substantially in the first position while inthe retracted state and in the second position while in the extendedstate.
 3. The target enclosure of claim 1 further comprising a hitsensor configured to detect a projectile strike to the target arm. 4.The target enclosure of claim 3 further comprising a microcontrollerconfigured to: receive projectile strike data from the hit sensor whilethe target arm is in the first position; determine, from the projectilestrike data, that a number of projectile strikes has reached apre-determined threshold; and lower the target arm based on thedetermining.
 5. The target enclosure of claim 1 further comprising amicrocontroller communicatively coupled to the at least one valve, themicrocontroller configured to: transmit a signal to the at least onevalve to cause the compressed air to flow into a first port of thedual-action pneumatic cylinder, thereby causing the piston rod toactuate from the retracted state to the extended state; and transmit asignal to the at least one valve to cause the compressed air to flowinto a second port of the dual-action pneumatic cylinder, therebycausing the piston rod to actuate from the extended state to theretracted state.
 6. The target enclosure of claim 1, wherein the atleast one valve further includes a flow control orifice configured toexhaust at least some air as the piston rod actuates between theextended state and the retracted state.
 7. The target enclosure of claim1 further comprising at least one torsion spring including a firstspring arm in contact with the counterbalance lever arm, the torsionspring being configured to be in a compressed state when the target armis in the second position and in an uncompressed state when the targetarm is in the first position, thereby contributing energy duringdecompression as the target arm moves from the second position to thefirst position.
 8. The target enclosure of claim 1 further comprising: amicrocontroller; a power supply configured to provide power to at leastthe air compressor and the microcontroller; and a flyback diodeconnected to a positive lead and a negative lead of the air compressor,the flyback diode configured to protect at least the microcontrollerfrom voltage spikes caused by the air compressor.
 9. A shooting systemincluding: a first target enclosure including: a target arm; a pneumaticsystem configured to raise and lower the target arm; and a first targetcontroller in communication with the pneumatic system and configured tocause the pneumatic system to raise and lower the target arm; and acontrol unit including: a control unit controller in networkedcommunication with the first target controller, the control unitcontroller configured to transmit one of a raise event and a lower eventto the first target controller, thereby causing the target arm to raiseand lower.
 10. The shooting system of claim 9, wherein the first targetenclosure further includes a hit sensor in communication with the firsttarget controller, the first target controller is configured to transmitprojectile strike data to the control unit.
 11. The shooting system ofclaim 10, wherein the control unit further includes a display interface,wherein the control unit is further configured to present the projectilestrike data to a shooter using the display interface.
 12. The shootingsystem of claim 9, wherein the control unit is further configured to:receive a pressure value from the first target enclosure, the pressurevalue being associated with the pneumatic system; determine that thepressure value is below a pre-determined threshold; and transmit acompressor activation command to the first target enclosure, therebyactivating an air compressor of the pneumatic system.
 13. The shootingsystem of claim 9, wherein the control unit is further configured to:select a hit count; and transmit the hit count to the first targetcontroller, wherein the first target controller is further configuredto: receive the hit count; initiate a first raise event, thereby causingthe pneumatic system to raise the target arm; count a number ofprojectile impacts to the target arm after initiation of the first raiseevent; and initiate a first lower event after the number of projectileequals or exceeds the hit count.
 14. The shooting system of claim 9further comprising a second target enclosure including a second targetcontroller in networked communication with the second controller,wherein the control unit is further configured to coordinate targetpresentation between the first target enclosure and the second targetenclosure.
 15. The shooting system of claim 14, wherein the controllerunit is further configured to cause only one of the first targetenclosure and the second target enclosure to be presented at a time. 16.The shooting system of claim 9, wherein the controller unit is furtherconfigured to transmit a first raise event to the first targetcontroller, wherein the first target controller is further configuredto: receive the first raise event; select a hit count; initiate thefirst raise event, thereby causing the pneumatic system to raise thetarget arm; count a number of projectile impacts to the target arm afterinitiation of the first raise event; and initiate a first lower eventafter the number of projectile equals or exceeds the hit count.
 17. Theshooting system of claim 9, wherein the control unit is furtherconfigured to transmit a target uptime value to the first targetcontroller, wherein the first target controller is further configuredto: receive the target uptime value; initiate a timer; and initiate afirst lower event after the timer has ran for the target uptime value.18. A computer-implemented method for providing a training routine for ashooter, the method comprising: selecting, by a hardware processor, afirst hit count associated with a first target enclosure; transmittingthe first hit count to the first target enclosure; receiving, by thehardware processor, indication from the first target enclosure that anumber of projectile impacts on the first target enclosure equals orexceeds the hit count; after receiving indication from the first targetenclosure, selecting, by the hardware processor, a second hit countassociated with a second target enclosure; and transmitting the secondhit count to the second target enclosure.
 19. The method of claim 18further comprising: transmitting a first raise event to the first targetenclosure, wherein receiving indication from the first target enclosurefurther includes: receiving projectile strike data from the first targetenclosure, the proj ectile strike data including a number of projectileimpacts on the first target enclosure; comparing, by the first hardwareprocessor, the number of projectile impacts on the first target to thefirst hit count; and determining, by the first hardware processor, thatthe first hit count has been reached or exceeded based on the comparing.20. The method of claim 18 further comprising: receiving, by thehardware processor, first projectile strike data from the first targetenclosure; receiving, by the hardware processor, second projectilestrike data from the second target enclosure; and displaying the firstprojectile strike data and the second projectile strike data to theshooter during the training routine via a display device.